


Home is where the heart is

by UrsaeMinoris



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (of course there is a sunset it's part of the deal with sheith), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, POV Shiro (Voltron), Post-War, Sunsets, but like... a tea spoon of angst in the middle of a ton of fluff, s8 doesn't exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-18 12:38:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18250013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UrsaeMinoris/pseuds/UrsaeMinoris
Summary: After the war, Keith and Shiro go on an excursion in the desert. There’s something they need to check.---Using a long, flat stone as a ramp, Keith launched the hoverbike into one last jump, followed by a sharp turn and a slide that slowly brought them to a halt. Shiro let go of Keith's waist, which he had been holding tight. Keith pushed up his goggles and turned to Shiro, and they both laughed from the excitement of their ride.





	Home is where the heart is

**Author's Note:**

> This was done for soft sheith week ( [twitter](https://twitter.com/softsheithweek) | [tumblr](https://softsheithweek.tumblr.com/) ) for the prompt “home”.  
> It was my first thread fic on twitter, you can read it here :  
> 

Using a long, flat stone as a ramp, Keith launched the hoverbike into one last jump, followed by a sharp turn and a slide that slowly brought them to a halt. Shiro let go of Keith's waist, which he had been holding tight. Keith pushed up his goggles and turned to Shiro, and they both laughed from the excitement of their ride. The sun was still hot, but getting lower, close to the horizon. Dust was dancing in the oblique rays of golden light. The stony ground was radiating the heat it had received during the day, causing the air to shimmer. Keith sighed and dismounted, his mood dropping at the sight of the object of their escapade.

Where the shack had been, only a pile of rubble remained. The old hoverbike wasn't there either. They hadn't had big hopes, knowing how the war had affected the region, but it still stung, and Shiro felt his heart sink in sympathy as Keith examined the ruins. He dismounted too, and joined his friend, who was now standing in front of what had been his home, head low. He put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Keith clenched his fists at his sides. "There's nothing to save."

He was trying to keep it together, but Shiro could hear his distress in the roughness of his voice, see it in the tightness of his lips, feel it in the stiffness of his shoulders. Shiro reached out a hand; Keith took it and eased into the hug, snuggling his head into Shiro's shoulder. They stood a moment like that, in silence.

When he felt Keith had relaxed a little, Shiro took a step back, holding him by the shoulders, trying to read his expression... but Keith was averting his gaze, eyes fixed on the ground. Shiro hesitated, feeling worry grow in his heart.

Then, Keith looked up again, his face full of determination : "It doesn't matter. I wasn't going to live here anyway."

"I... I guess not..." replied Shiro, a bit taken aback. He hadn't given much thought as to what they were going to do, now that the war was over. But now that he considered it, he could hardly imagine Keith living here again on his own, in this isolated place. It was still sad to see it destroyed, and Shiro knew full well that Keith had been hoping against all odds to find his dad's old hoverbike where he had left it. Losing it had to be a blow, as it was so charged in memories.

Keith stuffed his hands in the pockets of the leather jacket that had once belonged to Shiro. He sat down on the concrete foundation that remained from the building. Shiro installed himself next to him. They watched thoughtfully the sun embracing the horizon, and setting the sky ablaze in all shades of orange and pink. The desert seemed carved in amber, and blue shadows were stretching on the sand.

"So... what are you planning to do, now ?" asked finally Shiro. This question was making him strangely anxious, and he couldn't keep his right leg from bouncing nervously. He realized he was scared of Keith leaving.

Scared that their little paladin family would split, that everyone would mind their own business, now that they didn't have a common purpose anymore. This wasn't the first time he had considered this. But only now did it hit him that this was it. Now was the time where everyone had to make a choice. And he didn't want to let them go. It was selfish and he knew it, but he had found so much comfort in their team, that it was hard to see the end of it. At the very least, he wanted to keep Keith with him. They had been through so much together that he couldn't imagine his life without him.

But he couldn’t restrain him either. He had suffered enough when Adam had tried to put himself in the way of his dreams, and it had destroyed their relationship. Keith deserved better than that, and Shiro would support him no matter what.

The seconds Keith took to reflect before answering stretched like hours for Shiro.

"Hmm. I was thinking relief work. Mom and Kolivan want to use the Blades to help people in need across the universe."

_He was leaving._ Shiro felt his whole world fall apart. "That's... good." He managed.

"What about you?" asked Keith, softly.

Shiro felt a little guilty at the worried glance his friend was giving him; of course, he had already noticed Shiro's uneasiness. "I... I don't know. Relief effort sounds good. Helping out. Maybe I could do that, too."

Keith hummed, and inquired tentatively: "So, you'd come?"

That took Shiro by surprise. "I...What? Er..." He cleared his throat. "Of course I would, Keith. I just. Didn't expect you would want me to."

Keith frowned. "Shiro. I'm not going anywhere without you."

Shiro couldn’t help a gasp, relief flooding him like a tidal wave. He briefly closed his eyes to recollect himself before answering: "Just so you know. I wouldn’t go anywhere without you either."

And as he spoke this sentence, he felt the truth of it. And also...that this was only part of a bigger truth. He took a deep breath. He had to take his chance before it was too late. "...because I… I love you Keith."

Keith’s lips softened into a smile. "I love you too", he whispered.

"I know", replied Shiro, with a confidence that surprised him himself. Again, the words had come out of his mouth before he realized what he was saying. And again, he knew that it was the truth. And he was ashamed of his earlier doubts.

This echoed a confession that had been imprinted into his mind, or rather into the clone’s mind. An agonizing memory of a fight, of Keith crying out in pain while he was pushing his laser blade down on him, burning a permanent scar into his beautiful face. Of Keith refusing to give up on him, even in the most dire straits.

Keith was watching him with a strange expression, longing and melancholic, and Shiro wondered if he had understood what he was trying to say. He cupped Keith’s cheek with his left hand, gently tracing the scar with his thumb. The way Keith seemed startled at first confirmed to Shiro that he needed to make the nature of his feelings more clear. The young man relaxed as Shiro came closer, until their lips were almost touching, their breaths mingling.

Shiro waited a bit, giving Keith a chance to back away, if he didn’t want this. But what Keith did was grabbing Shiro by the collar and pulling him into a deep kiss.

It was messy and passionate and a bit awkward, and they had to part because Shiro had lost his balance from the way Keith was pulling him down, and they almost both fell over. They were both laughing through tears.

Keith wiped away his tears with the back of his hand, letting out a shaky sigh.

"This is why this doesn’t matter so much", he told Shiro, designing the rubble around them with a dismissive gesture. "I don’t need a place. I’m home when I’m with you."

Shiro’s throat tightened and all he could muster as an answer was saying Keith’s name in a trembling voice.

A few breaths later, he managed to gather himself enough to add : "We can be each other’s home. Let’s do this. Let’s explore space and help out everywhere we can. Let’s work with the Blades. We can take the Atlas, I think." He chuckled. "She’s getting restless, anyway."

With a tender smile, Keith took Shiro’s left hand in his own. "As long as we’re together…."

Shiro gave Keith’s hand a gentle squeeze. "Whatever happens, we’ll find each other again. We always did."

Keith huffed, and let himself fall into Shiro’s arms. They hugged again, and stayed like that a long time, while the sunset was turning everything to gold.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this!  
> This has to be the most sappy thing I ever wrote... Which isn't hard as I don't write romance that much, but sheith is worth it! :)
> 
> Let me know your thoughts & feels here, on [twitter](https://twitter.com/UrsaeMinoris2/status/1108159256161894400), or [tumblr](https://ursae-minoris-world.tumblr.com/post/183732741693/home-is-where-the-heart-is) !


End file.
